As the title says, which of the three major power creep items/powers seasonal themes do you find the best?
For me, crucibles wins simply because it takes a lot of the RNG out of itemisation. As long as you have the item you want maxed, you know you’re getting primal stats… then it’s just the seasonal power and the desired stats that’s random. But it helps that ENs are permanent else soul shards would have an advantage there.
Crucibles. Changeing skills and playstyles, in fun ways. So i say they are the best yet.
I agree. Crucibles are best for all the reasons you mention plus generating a free Primal.
Soul Shards for me. As they worked for a large number of builds due to being generic with their some of their effects. I’d probably liked crucibles if they supported more than 3 skills for each class.
Crucibles by far. They actually change the builds and the way they are played.
Ethereals and soul shards didn’t really change anything, they just added a massive amount of power creep.
Yes perfect stat values are nice too.
I liked the + to skills stat on etherials. If only that stat could have been made permanent, and get rolling on items… That would have been awsome. Imo.
I liked the season with ethereals the most. Mainly because there were so many different metas back then. Obv its not only because of ethereal alone. Rats, inna, bellruns, god, fbird etc and could switch around depending on mood. It was even great for solo players.
Crucible are good aswell. As there are new builds. However there are less meta options as only rats and impale (god run pretty much). I do understand why ppl like crucible though as there are some “new” great solo builds.
Ethereal, by far, simply because it was available at game start allowing one to enjoy the “theme” immediately, or close to it, rather than waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.
I have to give my vote to soul shards. Bring them back!
Soul shards would be the only seasonal theme that I would want back.
Ethereals wins for me, it was like Soul Shards and Crucibles combined. Not just the power boost but the skill enhances and the stat rolls being unique and higher than traditional items, beyond Primal.
And the fact you could get them really early and they were just as good. Could be a timing / class specific thing though but I just felt they were much more impactful on builds that were behind in power. Being able to take a mediocre build and pumping it by 10+ tiers felt amazing.
I really like the Ethereal. The Soul Shards were good an come in a strong #2. But Crucibles to me are a joke. Wow we can make a Primal. I haven’t really seen much of a bonus too me. Plus people were worry about the drop rate. They rain down from the sky. So by the end of the season you might a few 1000 of them.
The best part of any of these Seasons is when you can find a build that is powerful and runs smooth. Based on my experiences:
S24 - Jade Talon on Inna with Tempest Rush was silky smooth.
S25 - Marauder just had a lot of raw power, I was playing it without Crimson. I used Odyssey’s End. It was just strong, but didn’t play much feel different.
S27 - Fist of the Heavens. Now this crucible effect has a really good visual and it is fun to play. I am enjoying the supercharged FotH in push. It is great for speeds too, but the push side is most intriguing. I could see them modifying Khassett’s Cord to have the Steed activation effect, maybe with fewer, but stronger fists so it’s less lazy and laggy.
Again, it isn’t so much the power, but the ability to play/build differently that makes S27 a winner.
I would really like certain features of these seasons brought into the game permanently.
Crucibles turning items Primal, while rerolling them should become a Primal Dust/Essence reagent. With the limitation that you can only equip one rerolled primal.
Ethereal Tiered Items with a free passive effect — awesome.
Certain affixes on Ethereals and Soulshards were good candidates for legendary items.
I mean… they could literally make S28 a patch where certain features return permanently in some diluted fashion along with set reworks and upgrades. Many would be happy mix and match effects.
Ethereals hands down. The design was elegant. Almost all of them were useful in some context. They came packed with so much goodness. And the joy that was sparked each time I saw the pretty blue beam can’t be compared to the hohumdrum from all the other types of drops.
Soul shards were cool but the way the drops were designed was annoying. At least they made the salvaging work very nicely. Getting all of the gem effects every time was my favorite thing about them.
Crucibles for sure. It’s the only season that actually made me want to play more than one class.
Same! Leveling with Ethereals was fun. And I liked the different style of the weapons. Lucky to get the transmogs. That felt more rewarding, since I still can use them.
This is a tough one…
Crucibles - I think it is too early in the season to judge it entirely, for me at least. But I think they are great. Some builds can be quite different from the normal, and that is great. But then again, with the way many people play the game there is mostly one option per class.
Ethereals - I didn’t play this season enough and I slightly regret it. They were done so well, not only did it make nice loot hunt because you wanted the right one and the right power, but they made them all useful. But out of all three, this is the one I would least like as a permanent feature although it would be great to have them again.
Shards - This was my favourite. Not only because of the power boost, they were just cool. Sure more of them could have been viable but you had 2 extra items that you were hunting for, each needing more than one level of correct rolls. And if they weren’t the right ones it didn’t really feel bad because hey cool easy augments. Having all gem powers was just great as well. On the power, my favourite part of it was how much more XP we could get and not only the higher pushes. How cool was that. And you wanted different ones depending on your activity as well, the zDPS ones, different versions for speeds and pushes. And there were interesting mechanics with the ring of fire that brought some strategic play.
They were just awesome. And not because of the massive boost.
It’s not really about that though. Sure it does make quite an impact if you manage to get one really early on and have a primal immediately, quite a nice power boost. But as time goes on it’s more and more of a “Nice feeling” than the reason for the theme.
Ethereals. Getting one to drop was fun the entire season. After what, 3 days, Angelic Crucibles became something I just throw in the stash and use to upgrade the occasional puzzle ring. The only instance in which I would use one for an actual item I want to use is in the off chance I get a perfect primal version of the sanctified item I currently use.
Yes it is they are a Primal with very small boost. Yes it is nice you can make one after you reach 70. The thing is the Crucibles are all on a cool down timer. Where the two others were not.
No it doesn’t not like the Ethereal & Shards did. I have made a few of them to test the boost. All they are is a Primal with very small boost. If you don’t have a ton of cool down the in pack is very small.
Plus I’m playing this season for the rewards and not the unless Crucibles.